


A New Start

by Zima Zimavich (MsArachnid)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 19:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13442262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsArachnid/pseuds/Zima%20Zimavich
Summary: Ivan starts at a new school and doesn't know anyone.





	A New Start

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aluinihi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aluinihi/gifts).



> Written for Aleistercrowleysbitch on tumblr, for the RusLiet Secret Santa! Their request was for "High School AU where Ivan moves with his family to Lithuania and the only person who talks to him at school is Toris, or Lithuania comforting Russia in general."
> 
> I think I can only do hs AUs, this is embarrassing. 
> 
> This is so late, I'm sorry omg.

The morning of the first day of school after a break was always the worst. After a week off for Christmas and the new year, Toris worried that he didn't do all his homework. Was there an extra assignment no one told him about? Did he forget to write something down? Was there a test he didn't study for? The jitters were worse than even the first day of school after summer vacation. At least then he _knew_ there were no surprise assignments (except for summer reading, but even _then_ the teachers gave them an extra week to be sure). He was also nervous about waking up on time, since he had become accustomed to waking at 9 am instead of 6 am.

It seemed he had nothing to worry about. Everything that was supposed to be was in his locker, he got through his first few classes fine, and was as prepared as usual for his 4th period test. He stopped at his locker again before lunch. While bending down to see his lock, he quite literally bumped in to somebody. Somebody who...shouldn't have been there? The locker above him had been vacant since the beginning of the year! The body he bumped into said...something, and hurried away. It didn't look like they were done with whatever they'd been doing. Toris shrugged and did what he needed at his locker, and went to lunch.

First lunch wasn't the best, as far as lunches went, but at least it wasn't second lunch. First lunch may have been the earliest with the longest afternoon, but the class afterwards was a full, normal one. Those who are second lunch went to their class, went to lunch, and then went back to the _same_ class to finish. Toris didn't know how they got anything done in those classes - he'd never gotten second lunch and hoped he never would. Still, though, first lunch was too early, and Toris wasn't hungry enough to eat his school lunch. His days off had trained his body to eat lunch later, and suddenly eating at 11 am threw him off.

His friends didn't seem to have that trouble. As Toris picked at his food, Alfred (his age and American) basically inhaled his. Eduard (Estonian and a year younger) sat next to him, recounting the antics of their shared younger cousin, Raivis.

Once Eduard finished talking, Alfred groaned loudly and complained. "I can't believe they gave us a test! On our first day back!"

Toris sighed, "You knew about it. Remember? They told us we had a test today."

"Oh come on!" Alfred griped, "It was the week before Christmas! They could have told me anything and I'd go along with it!"

"I did remind you," Toris said.

"Over break! My mind was on Christmas and presents, not _school stuff_!" Alfred moaned.

"Well," Toris started, "I'm sure you did fine. Maybe they'll curve it, anyway."

"Yeah _right_ ," said Alfred, " _You_ took the test, too. You probably got a perfect score."

Right as Toris was about to argue that _no_ , he _didn't_ get a perfect score, Eduard interrupted. "Hey! Have either of you seen the new kid?"

They both looked over. "New kid?" Alfred asked.

"Yeah, he just started today. He looks pretty lost, but he's really big and looked at me funny so I didn't talk to him. He's in my Trig class."

"He looked at you funny? Like he's constipated?" Alfred asked.

Toris reached over to hit him, but Eduard got there first. " _No_ you idiot," he said, "not like that. But...odd. He had a weird smile on his face?" He shuddered, "I don't know, but it kind of creeped me out."

Alfred shrugged. "Probably had to shit, is all."

Toris rolled his eyes. "Did you get his name? Or what other classes he has? Or where he came-"

"I told you I didn't talk to him. Heck, I did my best not to _look_ at him," Eduard said.

"That's rude. You should try to be _nice_ to people, Eduard."

"Yeah, but if he's _weird_ -" Alfred started.

Toris interrupted. "You don't know that he's weird! He's _new_. He doesn't know anyone and the first thing you two do is this?" He stood up and pushed his tray to the side, grabbed his backpack and walked out of the cafeteria.

Alfred reached for Toris' discarded plate. "I can't _wait_ for next semester, when I get to have lunch with Arthur and them."

Eduard sighed and took out his trig book, deciding to start on his homework now instead of waiting.

~

Toris hid out in the bathroom. Security didn't usually check this bathroom during lunch, so Toris felt he was safe to settle next to the sink. He didn't want to take a stall if he didn't need to, and one of them was already occupied. He tried not to listen, but...it didn't sound like normal bathroom sounds were coming from the stall. Instead, it sounded like...pleading? In a different language. A male voice pleaded with a softer, tinny female voice, who Toris guessed was on the other end of a phone.

He wanted to leave. This wasn't his business, he had no point being here and even less for listening in (even if he didn't know what was being said). He wanted to pull out a book and pretend he hadn't heard, that he was too absorbed in his reading-but he /had/ heard. He couldn't just pretend he hadn't.

The voice broke.

Toris found himself moving toward the stall. He tapped on the stall door.

The tinny voice stopped talking.

"Are...are you okay?" Toris asked.

The small voice exploded in a flurry of questions and Toris backed away.

The louder voice hushed the other one. The door swung open and...oh. It was the kid from the locker. 

"Hello," Toris said.

"Hello!" Said the female voice. The boy's eyes widened and he turned away to speak into the phone, in that other language.

"Be nice, Vanya! Maybe make a friend," Toris heard her say.

The boy hung up.

"S-sorry!" Toris said, grabbing his bag and turning to leave instead of dealing with more of _this_.

"Wait," said the boy, "I know you."

"Ah," Toris started, "Yeah. Sorry about that. But you didn't have to just leave?"

The boy shrugged. "What's your name?" 

"Toris," said Toris, "Who were you on the phone with?"

"You're supposed to ask my name," the boy said, "It's Ivan. That was my sister. She won't come get me."

Toris put his backpack down again. "Why won't she get you? Are you sick?"

Ivan shook his head, thought about it, and shrugged again. "My head doesn't feel good."

"Like a headache? The nurse-"

"Not that kind of hurt. Like...my head is telling me things that I don't know are true."

"Oh." Toris said, "Do you know why?"

"No? It always does that. It's worse today because I don't know anyone. Or anything about this place."

"Oh!" Toris exclaimed, "You're the new kid!"

Ivan took a step back. "Yes? I'm new."

"I was - at lunch we were - well nevermind, you seem fine."

"I would hope so." Ivan's expression had become a lot icier. "Was there a reason I should not be fine?"

"No! There's nothing. The, um, bell is going to ring soon, do you know where you're going?" Toris asked in an attempt to change the conversation.

Ivan bit. "I have Chemistry next. It's in the D-wing, yes? Straight back from the office?"

"Yup! Great, that's good, see you later!" And Toris picked up his backpack and left even though there were four minutes left of lunch.

~

Ivan got on Toris' bus.

At the end of the day, Toris had gone to his locker quickly (and without incident), then headed outside, like every day. Like every day, his bus was the third in line, and Toris sat in the fourth row, right side, window seat. He watched the school empty out as students got on their buses or walked up to the field house to train. He sat and waited and listened to the radio faintly playing over the bus's speakers, like he did everyday...until he saw Ivan.

He watched him trudge up the bus steps, walk down the aisle, past rows one, two, three until he dropped his backpack in the fourth row, left side. Toris looked away, and tried to make it look like he hadn't been blatantly staring.

Toris felt someone's gaze on the back of his head. He turned around to see Ivan. Well crap. He'd been caught. Since pretending the other didn't exist would no longer work, he tried to be friendly. Maybe this time he wouldn't mess up.

"Hello," he said.

"Hey," said Ivan, scooting closer to the edge of his seat.

Toris watched Ivan move, but made none himself.

"I'm glad you're on my bus," said Ivan. "I guess that means you live near me?"

"Not necessarily." Toris tried to burrow against the window as Ivan creeped closer. "I didn't see you this morning."

"Ah!" Ivan smiled, "My sister drove me. She says she can drop me off on her way to college."

"That's nice of her," Toris said, watching both the bus driver and his window intently, worried he might miss his stop.

"Yes! She _is_ nice. But she's worried that I won't be able to ride the bus, and she doesn't know if she'll be able to pick me up everyday."

Toris looked at Ivan from out of the corner of his eye, who had now seated himself on the very edge of Toris' seat. "But you're riding the bus now?"

"Ah, yeah," Ivan said, "I'm trying it out. Until I get kicked off again! But people at this school seem nicer than my old school. You, too! I hope you're really as nice as you seem. You're the only person to talk to me all day!"

Toris tried to keep his face passive. _He'd_ been nice? What qualified as _nice_ to this guy? They must have had _vastly_ different perspectives on things, because Toris thought he'd been pretty rude to this kid all day. He didn't try to help at the locker, and in the bathroom he'd just...run away after saying something stupid. "That's dumb," he said.

Ivan smiled. "I guess I don't blame them. I'm new, I'm different. I hoped this school would be different, but," he shrugged, "guess not!"

"It'll be different!" Toris assured Ivan. "Probably. You can sit with me and my friends at lunch."

"You have friends?" Ivan asked, looking genuinely surprised.

Toris gave Ivan a flat look. " _Yes_. And your locker is near mine? I can help you with it."

"Oh, good! I can't do my homework tonight because I couldn't get my locker open. Or maybe someone stole my stuff!"

"Oh," Toris said, "I hope not."

The bus started slowing down, and Toris stood up. "This is my stop."

Ivan looked around. "I think it's my stop, too! I live in those apartments," he said, gesturing to the apartments across the street.

Toris said, "I live down the street. See you tomorrow."

"Bye!" Said Ivan, and the both walked home.


End file.
